Alloxytropus elias, Winterton, Shaun L. & Kerr, Peter H., 2006

Winterton, Shaun L. & Kerr, Peter H., 2006, A new species of Alloxytropus Bezzi (Diptera: Scenopinidae: Proratinae) from Israel, Zootaxa 1155, pp. 41-50 : 42-49

Alloxytropus elias sp. nov.

( Figures 1–5 )

Type material

Holotype male, ISRAEL: Negev: 4 km NE Sde Boqer, Malaise in dry wadi, 1–8.vi. 2004, 570 m, M.E. Irwin, 30 53’N, 34 49’E ( TAUI).

Paratypes: ISRAEL: Negev: 5 males, 6 females, same data as Holotype ( MEIC / CASC); 5 males, 5 females, same data as Holotype ( USNM); 4 males, 5 females, same data as Holotype ( CSCA).

Diagnosis

Head and thorax grey to brown, overlain with grey pruinescence; male abdomen mostly vivid white; legs dark yellow to light brown; wing milky translucent, venation pale; haltere mostly white; gonocoxite with distinctive notch along dorsal margin immediately anterior to attachment of gonocoxal apodeme; style subterminal on flagellum.

Description

Body length: 2.5–3.5 mm.

Head ( Fig. 1 ). Spherical, male ( Figs 1 B–C) eyes contiguous along most of length, separated by less than width of median ocellus immediately above antennae, female ( Figs 1 D–E) frons flat or slightly rounded, much wider than ocellar tubercle; head dark but densely overlain with pale grey pruinescence (=microtrichia); occiput flat to convex, both sexes with minute, sparse and pale coloured postocular setae, single row in male, multiple rows in female; eye colour red­brown, ommatidia larger in dorsal half of eye in male, uniform size in female; gena with pale setae; antenna and mouthparts yellow; antenna shorter than head length, flagellum tapered, longer than combined length of scape and pedicel; small pale setae on scape and pedicel, flagellum overlain with dense pale pruinescence; style subterminal ( Fig. 2).

Thorax. Ground colouration dark brown in male, dark yellow to brown in female, overlain in both sexes with dense grey pruinescence; male postpronotal lobe and postalar callus tan to dark yellow; minute pale setae on scutum with longer pale setae on notopleuron and postpronotal lobe; postalar callus with single pale macroseta; scutellum with two pairs of pale macrosetae; legs dark to pale yellow, femora with brown suffusion in male, pale setae on femora longer than on remaining leg segments; wing ( Fig. 1 A) translucent milky­white, venation very pale, except anterior veins in female dark yellow, posterior veins pale yellow to white in male; haltere stem light tan basally, white distally, knob white.

Abdomen. Vivid white in male; tergite 2 setal patch and lateral areas of tergites dark brown; sternites white with brown medial patch, all segments with sparse pale setae in both sexes; female abdomen light brown, entire segment 1 and posterior margins of other segments white; male and female terminalia white basally, brown along posterior margin.

Male Genitalia ( Figs 3 , 4 ). Genitalia not rotated on axis, complex in structure; epandrium ( Figs 3 A, 4A, E) arched, covering terminalia, divided medially almost completely, posterior margins rounded, short spinous process on inner margin directed anteriorly; cerci short, rounded, not extending beyond end of epandrium; gonocoxites quadrangular in dorsal view ( Figs 3 C–D, F), posterior corners angular, fused medially, hypandrium absent, large setae ventrally, tapered projection posteromedially; gonostylus ( Figs 3 D, F, 4D) triangular, tapered and upturned apically, gonocoxite with distinctive dorsal notch slightly anterior to attachment of gonocoxal apodeme; gonocoxite connected dorsolaterally to hypoproct by billowed membranous processes ( Figs 3 D, 4B); gonocoxal apodeme elongate, broadly spatulate distally and recurved dorsally along length, articulating with dorsal apodeme of parameral sheath; distiphallus ( Figs 3 B, 4C) bifid basally, narrow, elongate, reflexed midway (at end of terminalia) so that the apical portion of the distiphallus is highly coiled inside the genitalic cavity along side the base of the aedeagus, distiphallus with two pairs of small spines ( Figs 3 B, 4C); dorsal apodeme of parameral sheath split basally and then fused into single apodeme which is reflexed dorsally before splitting again into two processes that articulate with apices of gonocoxal apodemes ( Figs 3 C, 4B); ventral apodeme of parameral process distinctively shaped, not forked, cradling the base of the ejaculatory apodeme; lateral ejaculatory apodemes not evident; ejaculatory apodeme narrow with trumpet shaped apex posteriorly.

Female Genitalia ( Fig. 5 ). Tergite 8 covered with sparse, pale setae; tergite 9+10 joined to furca internally by a bridge formed by tergite 9; acanthophorites with five to six stout A1 setae; furca angular, sclerotised, closed anteriorly, lateral wings posteriorly; sternite 8 bowl shaped with posterior marginal fringe of elongate setae; two spermathecae present; spermathecal ducts thickened basally with irregularly annulated tissue patterning, ducts narrowed distally; spermathecae membranous, truncated distally with thickened marginal band; spermathecal sac small, elongate, arising from roof of bursa near posterior margin of furca; spermathecae join to roof of bursa separately from and posterior to spermathecal sac duct; accessory glands very short, thickened, joining to bursa just posterior to spermathecal ducts.

Comments

Alloxytropus elias sp. nov. is known only from a series of specimens collected from Israel where it co­occurs with A. anomalus (unpublished data). This species is readily distinguished from all other Alloxytropus based on body colouration, particularly the vivid white abdomen colour of the male, which is not found in any other species. The body of A. anomalus is completely yellow to light brown in both sexes while in A. bezzii it is shiny black. The head and thorax of A. elias sp. nov. is dark with a dense covering of grey pruinescence. The haltere knob of A. elias sp. nov. and A. kerzhneri is white, while in A. bezzii , A. anomalus , and A. lehri it is yellowish. Like species of Prorates , females of Alloxytropus are difficult to identify to species confidently due to colour variation. Males vary less in colouration and are more reliably identified to species.

Etymology

The specific epithet is named after Elias Otto Smith Baer, born October 5, 2005. In the Christian Bible, Eli was the high priest of Israel who helped raise Samuel.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Alloxytropus elias sp. nov. A, wing; B, male head, frontal view; C, male head, lateral view; D, female head, frontal view; E, female head, lateral view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 3. Alloxytropus elias sp. nov. Male genitalia. A, entire structure in situ, dorsal view; B, aedeagus, dorsal view; C, epandrium removed to show gonocoxites, hypoproct and aedeagus (apical half of distiphallus removed), dorsal view; D, gonocoxites, dorsal view; E, hypoproct with epandrium removed, dorsal view; F, gonocoxites with gonocoxal apodemes removed, ventral view. Abbreviations: cerc, cercus; d apod, dorsal apodeme; distiph, distiphallus; ej apod, ejaculatory apodeme; epand, epandrium; goncx, gonocoxite; goncx apod, gonocoxal apodeme; goncx lat process, membraneous lateral gonocoxal process; gonst, gonostylus; hyprct, hypoproct; v apod, ventral apodeme. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 4. Alloxytropus elias sp. nov. Male genitalia, A, entire structure in situ, lateral view; B, same lateral view (epandrium, hypoproct, gonostylus and apical half of distiphallus removed); C, aedeagus, lateral view; D, gonocoxites with hypoproct attached via membraneous lateral processes; E, epandrium, lateral view. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.

FIGURE 5. Alloxytropus elias sp. nov. Female genitalia, dorsal view. Abbreviations: acanth spine, acanthophorite spine; cerc, cercus; hypct, hypoproct; spmth, spermatheca; spmth duct, spermathecal duct; spmth sac, spermathecal sac; st, sternite; tg, tergite. Scale bar = 0.1 mm.